Important of Undergraduate College Prestige
At least based on the forums here, a school's name even on the undergrad level seems to matter a lot... more than it should.
Like on the thread discussing Berkeley vs Cornell, or AKA Haas vs Cornell, many people were saying Cornell simply due to its ivy league name. But on that note on sites like College Confidential, there's many people saying Cornell's ivy name doesn't matter since it accepts many more students than other ivies, and is also the lowest "ranked" ivyschool. Also Cornell's location in Ithaca isn't ideal for internships and whatnot.
This being said, does a school's name matter significantly AS LONG AS you come from a target undergrad school (like UPenn, Cornell, Stern, Ross, Haas).
Ok,the point of going to a target school is that you have more exposure to recruiting and networking opportunities.That's it! It also helps when you want to go to b-school but you still have to get a 720+ gmat score.
Once you're in a target school it's all up to you to milk it for what it's worth.
Even among the targets, the school name still matters. It all depends on the tier of the schools you are comparing.
If you have a list of schools you are debating among, we can offer input.
I was thinking:
Cornell AEM (Dyson School of Management) vs NYU Stern vs UMich Ross the undergraduate level.
Objectively I would pick Cornell. Is cost a factor for you?
Coming from a non-target, yes, your undergrad institution is HUGE in your first 2 or 3 years out of school (I was able to overcome it through luck, hard work, luck, perseverance, and luck). By the time you're 30, it's ALMOST entirely irrelevant. We were hiring recently at my institution for a highly experienced (10+ year) associate, and when we received resumes the last thing we looked at was institution(s) attended. Specific, relevant work experience was overwhelmingly huge, quality of company they had worked for was a distant second, college major was a close third, and actual undergraduate institution was almost irrelevant.
The further I got away from college the less I really cared about college sports or my old fraternity. Similar things happen professionally as you get further away from college--as time goes on your undergraduate institution has less of an impact on your career. However, the quality of your work experience COULD be directly impacted by your undergraduate institution because it can directly impact the roles you obtain upon graduation, but if you attend a non-target and overcome it and get hired into a target role then your undergraduate institution really doesn't impact you. I even knew a guy at my institution who got on with Goldman Sachs IBD, but he had family connections…
Edit: I also wanted to add (and I think I read it from a link on this site) that your undergraduate institution plays a statistically noticeable role in your likelihood of admission to top MBA programs. So yes, the institution you attend at the undergraduate level CAN impact your career. With that said, I've read numerous studies that seem to indicate that people who are admitted to Ivy League institutions and choose not to attend (in favor of other institutions, such as their local state university) ultimately end up with the same level of earnings by their 30s. To me it suggests that ultimately, people with equal intellectual horsepower tend to achieve the same levels of success over time.
This is very true. After a few years your college and even your degrees (unless it's a technical job-a history major could be a great IB'ER, but an english major isn't going to cut it in engineering) and no one really cares. Where you attended ollege comes up more in conversation regarding what did you do from 18-22.
Although my general rule is that you know within 5 minutes if someone went to Harvard. No offense Harvard kids...
cuz they tell you ;)
And in my area, it's much cooler and more fun to be from my institution than Harvard when it comes to the social scene. :)
VATech pretty much nailed it so little to add here. Basically undergrad prestige plays an important part in getting a top finance or consulting gig out of college. For law/med/Phd admission it doesn't matter nearly as much. As a general rule, the further you are out of school the less it matters.
It is awesome though to name drop at cocktail parties if you went to an elite school.
This is the most professional and nicest response to the similar questions based on my weeks of searching on this forum.
Myth of school prestige? (Originally Posted: 06/20/2011)
I have friends getting interviews on wall street from non target CANADIAN schools. Also, they are often 3.0's. ... Which brings up the following question: What is this myth that you have to be in the ivy league with 3.8 to break in .... I mean someone gave me shit here about me being in McGill (top canadian school), and I see friends from western and macmaster getting offers ...
There is no myth. Targets have it easier than non targets. That doesn't mean non targets don't make it though. You would probably have an easier time at queens or ivey but any kid who is out there hustling has a shot.
Is it front office IBD at BBs though?
^What he said, i go to a non target and a lot of my alumni on linkedin have investment baking profession but only a very few are in F.O. Though i have notice that those who are in F.O write what group they are in TMT, FIG or worked on M&A while usually those in BO/MO don't write anything and just say Associate at GS investment banking.
Look at it this way: The nontarget kids have to network, apply, and interview, and even then run a very good chance of not getting what they want. The ivies walk down to the OCR office and get introduced to the recruiters.
Pick one
kk, that makes sense
i remember you having a low GPA in pharmacy. just sayin
I do, which is why I have bit of a hope seeing non-ideal candidates getting offers. My mistake was that I just went into the wrong major. I destroyed calculus and lin. algebra/geometry, and did the worst in biol / anat in my freshman year. Idiotically, i went the pharma route haha
Is it true that from where one gets their undergraduate degree matters? (Originally Posted: 09/03/2017)
Q1. Is it true that if you go to an ivy league for undergraduate, it doesn't matter what you study if you want to break into ib so long as you can show that you are hungry and smart enough to learn? I am not talking about HYP; I am referring to the College at UPenn, Columbia, and Dartmouth... specifically the College at UPenn's :)
I am trying to choose whether to go 40k in debt to finish my undergraduate degree at an Ivy league university or a plain old rankless school. I am a poli-sci major, economics minor. I have done an internship at ML PWM. I have also done some business consulting stuff to help some small businesses in my community. Before I started college, I also worked on the commercial side of BOA and won some sales awards.
My other questions are: Q2. If person A has an MBA or masters from a top 10 program but has a bachelors degree from a low ranking school (i.e., either a community college or extension school), will IB care about person A's undergraduate education at all?
Q3. Do most IB ask for transcripts or do they want to see a copy of your diploma? Just curious.
Q4. How high of a GPA does IB want to see when you are trying to break in as a non-finance major from an ivy league?
Any extra advice would be greatly appreciated, especially hard advice. Thanks.
Anyone?
Q1: If you come from a "preftigious" enough school, you can potentially get away with not being the usual finance major by utilizing the school's network and OCR, and more importantly, by proving your interest in finance via other ways (clubs, case comps, student investment fund, relevant work experience etc). Breaking in with a poli-sci major from a target is definitely possible with enough hard work. However, you'll still probably have a harder time than your peers majoring in finance.
Q2: In MBA level recruiting, nope, not really.
Q3: I'm pretty positive they do ask for your transcript. It's part of the background check.
Q4: I'm not sure about this one, but 3.5 is usually the red line, so I'd go with that. Although just try to keep it as high as humanly possible. That goes for everyone.
Does your undergrad make that much of a significant difference? (Originally Posted: 01/01/2018)
I'm new here to this forum. Had this account lying around but I wasn't sure how to make a post like this on WSO, but here it is.
I kept hearing from friends and mentors alike that getting jobs in finance, banking, etc... borderline requires coming from a prestigious university.
So I was wondering what would be the best way to go into finance, banking, etc... from one of the lower tier schools as a starting point? I just transferred into UC Santa Cruz with a full scholarship. I've always wanted to attend UC Santa Cruz or UC Berkeley (mostly Santa Cruz) and getting a full scholarship at UCSC was a dream come true, especially since my family is paycheck to paycheck. Currently, I'm double majoring in Economics and Mathematics (Computational). I was an engineering major upon transfer but I didn't like engineering that much (it wasn't due to the rigor, I just felt like I was studying something I wasn't interested/was pressured to study by peers and family) so I made the switch to what I've always wanted to do. Glad I made the switch because I'm loving every second of what I'm doing now.
Anyway, I have three years left of my undergrad so I want to make the most of it and I want to know what I should be doing going forward given my current scenario? I'm sorry if this is a bit long winded. I just wasn't sure how to make a post like this without sounding so out of place.
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